


Thinking Out Loud

by RisemboolRanger



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014)
Genre: Disney, F/M, Fate, Friendship, Love, Marvel - Freeform, Philosophy, Romance, life - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-20
Updated: 2016-10-02
Packaged: 2018-04-05 08:25:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4172823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RisemboolRanger/pseuds/RisemboolRanger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chihiro has pretty much walked blind through life. Her music was the only thing to hold real meaning to her and she was happy with that, until one single week that manages to change her entire life around. After all, most people find love when they're not even looking for it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prelude

Soft music filled the room, the notes long and mournful. Yet in spite of the sad music that flowed through her fingers across the ivory keys, Chihiro was happy. Only yesterday, she'd been prepared to quit her job. Now she couldn't imagine doing anything better. The piano sat just inside the entrance of the restaurant. Customers and wait staff passed Chihiro on either side, but this was her music and whilst she was playing, nobody else existed to her.

Not all music had that effect on her. She could only really feel music if she enjoyed it, appreciated it, respected the clear emotions behind it. If she couldn't feel the music, then it was just mechanical - her fingers moving along the keys like they were on a timer; programmed to move that way. She hated mechanical playing. Music was all about telling a story, a moment, a feeling... There was no point in music if there was no feeling behind it.

Yesterday, the restaurant owner Ichiru had been put onto suspension after he'd been caught skimming change from the bar staff's tip jar, his secondary manager Tatsu filling in for him temporarily. It likely wouldn't be temporary for long - it looked like there was a good chance that the manager would be sacked. And honestly, Chihiro was thrilled by the idea.

Nobody liked Ichiru. He was rude, loud and unnecessarily unfair to his staff over the smallest mistakes. Chihiro hadn't really had much to do with him directly, though she'd seen him cause two of the waitresses to cry on separate occasions. The only interaction he'd really had with her was to give her the sheet music for the songs that _he'd_ decided on. Regular classical songs that were often used as hold music for big corporate companies. Uninteresting songs. Mechanical songs.

Chihiro had ended up hating every minute of playing those songs. She didn't like playing music she had no feeling for - she ended up feeling as robotic as the notes themselves. Tatsu had liked Chihiro's playing from the day she'd started, after hearing her practicing to herself the first evening before the restaurant had opened. She'd told Chihiro to hang in there, promising to convince the manager to let Chihiro play some of her own music, or at least music of her choosing, but the manager had still insisted on making those choices himself, in spite of her efforts.

Chihiro had known there was to be no new change on the horizon and had been ready to quit, unable to keep on playing songs she felt no sentiment towards. Then, as if by some stroke of fate, the manager's suspension had suddenly been thrown into play, Tatsu taking over the position immediately. Chihiro hoped that Tatsu would soon be allowed the role permanently. Tatsu let her play whatever music she liked.

Getting to play music that she actually enjoyed made such a huge difference in Chihiro's mood. She'd actually been excited to come to work that day. She'd taken great pleasure in propping up the sheet music in front of her that she'd picked out herself. She could have also sworn that it had a better effect on the patrons too. The music was sad, quite complicated, but it suited the atmosphere so much better and people even looked towards the sound in interest as they entered the restaurant. Chihiro was delighted.

She took a short break to shuffle the music around in front of her. She generally didn't need to refer back to it, but she knew how easily flustered she always got if she did make a mistake. At least with the music in front of her, it would be much easier to flow straight back into. The restaurant seemed to get so much louder whilst there was no music. She could hear what sounded like a mother and her son arguing in a booth nearby.

"I thought it might be a good idea."

"But I don't _need_ further education. Why would I want people to tell me things I already know?"

"I just don't want your talents to go to waste!"

"I'm thirteen - I've got plenty of time to do something with my life!"

Chihiro zoned out the sounds of their conversation as soon as she started playing again, immersing herself back into the music. The song was less complex than the last, but sorrowful and full of obvious heartache that must have plagued the musician's life when he'd composed this piece. It was old and from a fairly unknown composer. It was one of Chihiro's favourite pieces.

She was feeling a little daring, confident from Tatsu's faith in her playing, so as she neared the end of the song, she neatly flipped the sheet music over in between crescendos to a page that was handwritten in neat black pen. She then immediately flowed straight into the next piece of music. Her own piece of music. She'd never played her own compositions here, besides when she'd been playing to herself whilst the restaurant was closed. It was the same piece that Tatsu had liked before. 

It seemed to go down well. The restaurant was busy all night and the patrons seemed to take their time at their tables, not in any rush to leave. Chihiro couldn't help but hope that maybe the music change had been part of it. There were still a few booths occupied even when it got nearer to closing time. Tatsu wasn't eager to send them away and enticed more sales with cocktail lists for the adults and dessert menus for the families with kids. Chihiro had finished playing by this point and was packing away her music, feeling much happier than she had in quite a while.

Two more tables emptied whilst she was neatly organising her shoulder bag. A man from one of the parties actually complimented her playing as they passed towards the exit, which of course made her blush. None of the customers had ever said a word to her before. Her mechanical playing of the music that the manager had chosen really had been depriving her talent.

She closed the lid on the piano and gave it a fond pat. Even if she hadn't been enjoying the music she'd been playing here up until today, she had to admit that it sounded much better than her piano at home. It was one of the reasons she'd waged war with herself for so long over whether to quit or not. It was clearly a good thing that she hadn't.

As she got up, she saw a woman and a boy with spiky, dark hair loitering near the doorway. From their voices, she recognised them as the pair she'd heard arguing earlier. When the woman noticed Chihiro looking, she handed the boy a set of car keys. "Hiro, why don't you go and wait for me in the car? I'll be down in just a minute."

"Sure, Aunt Cass," the boy replied, nonplussed, happily taking the keys.

"And don't even think about turning the ignition on this time!" The woman shouted after him as an afterthought, as he disappeared through the main entrance to the restaurant. Chihiro turned away, not wanting to seem like she was purposely eavesdropping, but she suddenly realised that the woman wanted to speak to her when she said, "Excuse me?"

Chihiro looked back, surprised for a second before realising that she was technically still at work and should be professional with any customers. "Yes? Is everything okay?"

"Actually, I wanted to say that I really loved your playing," the woman, whom the boy had called Cass, commended her. "It really elevated the mood of this place."

Chihiro's face coloured. She wasn't particularly used to compliments. "Oh. Thank you."

"I was wondering if I could maybe hire you for next week?" the woman requested. "I run the Lucky Cat Café and I've got a bunch of events lined up for Golden Week. I think your music would add the perfect touch if you're interested."

"Wow, um, I'm really flattered, but you might need to speak to my boss," said Chihiro apologetically, taken aback by the offer. "I usually work here during the week, so I don't know how she'd feel about that..."

"I feel good about it," Tatsu interrupted, appearing at Chihiro's elbow and making her jump. "It'd be a nice change of pace for you, Chihiro - I think you should do it." She then held her hand out politely to the other woman. "Tatsu Shimawi. I'm temporarily in charge."

The woman returned the handshake warmly. "Cass Hamada."

Chihiro looked between the two of them, her gaze settling uncertainly on Tatsu. She felt a little like she was being passed over in a business deal, which technically she sort of was. She didn't mind the idea of playing somewhere new - it could be quite fun - but she didn't want to leave Tatsu in the lurch. Particularly when she'd been so accommodating with her. "Are you sure, Tatsu?"

"Don't look so worried. We can get the San Fransokyo Drifters to cover next week whilst you're not here."

The San Fransokyo Drifters were an all-male string quartet, who'd jokingly based their stage name on an old action movie. The restaurant alternated between them and Chihiro as their performers. The San Fransokyo Drifters had just finished their final exams at high school. Chihiro had covered a lot of their shifts during their revision periods, so maybe they'd owe her a favour or two.

"Well, if you don't mind... then thank you." She gave Tatsu a polite nod, then turned to Cass and did the same. "And thank you for the opportunity. I'd love to play at your café."

"Oh, you're so sweet!" Cass smiled. "You could certainly teach my nephew a thing or two!" Chihiro didn't really know what to say to that, but the older woman ploughed on anyway. "If you get chance to come by the café at some point tomorrow, I'll make you a coffee and we can discuss what I've got planned for Golden Week, so you can help me choose what music would work best."

Chihiro was surprised. She wasn't used to getting to make choices herself. "I'm free tomorrow morning?"

"Great! I'll be working all day, so drop by any time," Cass beamed, swinging her handbag up onto her shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Err, see you tomorrow." Chihiro was still a little blind-sided by how quickly that had all happened.

"Well, I'm sure that was a nice surprise for you," said Tatsu, once the woman had left.

"Are you really sure you won't need me though?" Chihiro worried aloud.

Tatsu just rolled her eyes. "We'll be fine! Why don't you just worry about yourself for once? You're talented, Chihiro. You could do a lot more than playing in a stuffy restaurant."

"By playing in a café instead?" Chihiro wasn't sarcastic often, but this time it coloured her tone slightly.

Tatsu smiled. "It'll at least be a change of scenery for you. You might meet some new people for once, rather than just the same staff you see here all the time." Chihiro wasn't exactly a social butterfly and Tatsu always tried as subtly as possible to push her towards trying new things and visiting new places. Sometimes she wondered though if the younger girl ever caught on to what she was doing.

Chihiro shrugged. "But I like it here."

"You liked it here today," Tatsu corrected. "I was under the impression that only yesterday you were all ready to quit."

Chihiro stared at her in surprise. "How did you know that?" She hadn't told anybody about her intentions before everything had changed.

"Oh, Chihiro, I could tell you were unhappy... More so than you usually seem," Tatsu teased.

All of Chihiro's life, there'd been an ongoing joke that she never looked happy. She couldn't exactly help that unless she actively forced more expression into her face, her mouth always turned down slightly at the corners. She couldn't help that her eyebrows were set a little further apart than most people's, giving her a permanent look like someone had just kicked her puppy. Most of the comments had simply been made in jest, but it didn't make it any less annoying. She liked Tatsu though and the older woman at least teased her in a tone that didn't make her feel grumpy.

"Why do you think I told you to play whatever you liked?" Tatsu added.

That surprised Chihiro a second time. "You knew that's what was bothering me?"

Tatsu laughed. "I know you better than you think you do - I can read you like an open book! I know how important music is to you. I could tell you weren't happy with Ichiru's garbage that he wanted you to play. Even I knew it was boring and I know next to nothing about music."

"Oh..." Chihiro was strangely touched. She saw Tatsu a little like a mentor figure. She knew the older woman had been looking out for her; she just hadn't realised how much. "Thanks, Tatsu."

Tatsu just smiled. "Don't mention it. You really _are_ good, Chihiro. I think your music could really take you places with the right opportunities." She gave her a pointed nudge. "That's why you need to follow every door that opens up to you. Even if it doesn't actually lead you anywhere, at least it'll be something different for you."

Chihiro couldn't help but smile back. Tatsu had a point. Maybe this really could be a good opportunity for her. Her mind was still reeling from the idea - she'd never been approached for anything before. "Okay, okay. Does that mean the philosophy lesson's over now?"

Tatsu grinned. She knew that Chihiro had a good-humoured nature in there - she just took a while to open up to people. "Then next time learn all this preachy crap for yourself and I won't have to give you anymore lessons."

**XXX**

It only started to sink in the following day, then Chihiro began worrying. Would Cass want her to play again today, like an audition? What if she made a mistake and went and ruined it all? What should she wear? Was she supposed to treat this like an interview? Should she turn up earlier rather than later or would that make her seem too keen? Was the Lucky Cat Café the one on the corner that she was thinking of or was she just going to get horribly lost and end up going to the wrong place?

She tried to think of one of the wise things that Tatsu would tell her. Though she'd referred to it as 'preachy crap', she was pretty big on life mantras and would often spout them in attempts to inspire the staff. ' _Everything happens for a reason_ ' was one of her favourites. Chihiro kept repeating it in her head and forced herself to breathe and relax. She just needed to treat this calmly. Just because it was something new didn't mean it had to be intimidating. If she stressed out about it, then she likely would end up screwing something up.

She dressed in her blue dungaree pantsuit - that looked surprisingly smart, considering it was just a fancy pair of dungarees - over a flowered t-shirt and left the house just before ten o'clock. Still fairly early, but late enough to miss the rush hour crowds on their way to work. She hated trying to navigate crowded streets. She headed in the direction of the café that she thought was the one she needed to get to, telling herself that if she was wrong, she could just stop and ask someone for directions.

Thankfully, she was right. If the bright 'Lucky Cat Café' sign wasn't indicative enough, then the giant waving Maneki cat above it was. Chihiro peered through the window in the door, but the glass was lightly frosted and she couldn't see inside very well. She meekly let herself in, a bell tinkling overhead as the door opened. The strong, bittersweet scent of coffee instantly filled her senses, accompanied by the much fresher smell of baking pastry. It was fairly quiet - only three tables were occupied - two by couples and one by a mother and her young daughter.

Chihiro spotted Cass cleaning along the front of the display case where all the hot pastries were laid out. She made her way over and hovered awkwardly as she tried for her attention. "Hi."

"Oh, hey! Chihiro, wasn't it?" Cass straightened up and tossed the cloth over the glass case, onto a work surface somewhere behind. She was wearing a white apron over her clothes with a cute cat face printed on the front. "Go take a seat somewhere; I'll be over in just a second. Did you want coffee? Tea? Hot chocolate?"

"Oh, err, sure. Hot chocolate please."

Whilst Cass disappeared back behind the counter and busied herself with the boiling water dispenser, Chihiro picked out a table that was furthest away from anyone else. That was professional, right? Trying to get some privacy whilst they started discussing things? It wasn't just because she wasn't much of a socialist. She didn't dislike people - she simply preferred a bit more seclusion.

Cass soon joined her with the drinks. "So... What do you know about Golden Week?"

Chihiro had a sudden flashback to eighth grade history. "It's most widely celebrated in Japan. It includes several national holidays within the space of a week, such as Showa Day and Greenery Day."

Cass beamed. "That's right! It's not as widely celebrated here as it used to be, but apparently, because of our standing in the world of technology, San Fransokyo is one of the more popular tourist destinations for it. People always travel during Golden Week, so I'm hoping that if I hold a variety of theme nights at the café, I can encourage a wider crowd than normal by appealing to the tourists."

Chihiro nodded. She didn't know much about business, but appealing to a wider audience sounded like a logical strategy to her. With her cutesy apron and her slightly flyaway hair, Cass looked more kooky than professional, but she seemed to have it all worked out. "So what have you got planned?"

"Well, I usually do beat poetry nights on Monday evenings, so I'm gonna stick with that and just amp the atmosphere and decorations up more. Then I'm planning a quiz night, dance classes, a movie night, speed dating..."

Now there were the kooky ideas that Chihiro had been expecting. Speed dating? Wow. She couldn't imagine anything worse. "So you want me to play whilst these things are going on?"

"For the most part," Cass confirmed. "Obviously for the beat poetry and movie night, people will already have things to listen to, but I was thinking you could play whilst people are coming in and I'm getting things set up."

"Sure. Do you have a piano or would I need to get one brought over here?"

"Actually, I already have one. This place used to be a piano bar before I took over and the old owners just left it here," said Cass. "I can't play myself, but it seemed to be in good shape so it felt like a waste to just get rid of it. It's been sat in the garage since - I'll get my nephews to move it into here next week."

"If it hasn't been used in a long time, it might need tuning," Chihiro pointed out. "I can take a look at it for you before I leave? I tuned my piano myself, so I should be able to handle it if it needs adjusting."

"That'd be great!"

Whilst they sipped at their hot drinks, Cass went into more detail on what kind of music she wanted for each night. It all sounded within Chihiro's capabilities. Cass wanted some movie soundtracks for the quiz night to get people into the trivia spirit. Chihiro knew some John Williams, but she was sure she could pick up some others before next week. Cass commented how she'd particularly liked the last run of songs that Chihiro had played at the restaurant the night before. That had made Chihiro blush deeply - those had all been her own compositions.

Cass explained about her payment plan too. She was offering more than what Chihiro earned at the restaurant each night. She would have been a fool to say no, but as it was, she was happy to agree to everything anyway.

After the discussion, Cass led her round to the garage to introduce her to the old piano. Chihiro was amazed at the condition it was in - it was near perfect. It barely needed any tuning, despite its age and how long it had been clearly sitting alone for, and it took Chihiro less than forty minutes to get the sound back to its original settings. Cass promised to give it a good dusting before having it moved into the café. Even the minor tuning job had left Chihiro with very grey, powdery fingertips. 

Cass insisted she wash up in her kitchen above the café before leaving. Chihiro felt a little uncomfortable being in a stranger's home within such a short time of knowing them, but Cass accompanied her and chattered away the whole time, diminishing any discomfort. Chihiro found that she quite liked the eccentric baker.

Once the plan had been ironed out, Chihiro left Cass to get back to work, promising to get to the café early on the Monday evening. All the while, her mind was still boggling. Just two days ago, she'd been ready to quit her job without having anything else lined up, prepared to just try and wing it from there. Instead, she'd had her best night at the restaurant since she'd began working there and now she was preparing to do a week playing somewhere completely new. Everything seemed to have happened all at once. What was going to be thrown her way next?

As she made to leave, a man on the other side of the frosted door beat her to it, the bell jingling again as he pushed it open. He was quite tall and haggard looking - his face shadowed with untidy stubble and dark circles underlining his eyes. He looked like he could do with something much stronger than coffee. Chihiro hastily shrank back out of his way to let him pass first. It took her a moment to realise that he was actually waiting on the other side and holding the door open for her.

"After you," he said, surprisingly polite.

"Oh. Thank you," Chihiro replied as she quickly sidled past, instantly feeling guilty. That would certainly teach her for judging a book by its cover. Tatsu was right - she really did need to get out more.

**XXX**

The first night went well. Really well. Chihiro couldn't believe how smoothly everything had run. Not to mention how popular the event had been. Cass had said that her beat poetry night was a frequent thing, so it was clearly full of regulars, as well as the tourists visiting for Golden Week. A lot of the audience were women - a good majority of them already seeming to know each other; they were obviously the regulars - but there were also several couples, a few small families and a large group of college students.

Chihiro played whilst everyone was filing into the café before the entertainment kicked off, as they'd already discussed. She also played during the intermissions - or 'cake breaks', as Cass had called them, where she'd run round with trays of small cakes and pastries for everyone who was participating. Chihiro played a mix of some of her favourite pieces of music, as well as a few compositions of her own, trying to keep the mood fairly neutral rather than straying towards the much softer stuff. The café was too upbeat for that.

Then whilst people were doing their improv poetry readings, she'd sit back and listen like everyone else. She was surprised to find she quite liked a lot of the material she heard. She'd never had much of an interest in poetry before, but then maybe she'd just never really given it the time. Several people struck up conversations with her in between her playing - something that had never happened at the restaurant. She wasn't used to the one-off interactions without her music to hide behind, but she actually found that she was enjoying herself. It was hard not to when everyone was so friendly.

On top of all that, the piano that Cass had found when she'd taken over the café really was beautiful. The glossy woodwork was virtually untouched once all of the dust had been cleared away and since it had been tuned, the sound was just spot on perfect. Chihiro was a little jealous that everywhere seemed to have better pianos than her. She couldn't quite afford a new one just yet - not the one that she had her eye on anyway. That was another reason she'd put up with the restaurant for so long.

After all of the poetry readings were done, she started playing again, right up until the last person left and Cass came over to commend her on a job well done. "I can't believe how well everything went - I've never had so many people here till closing time before!" she gabbled as she cleared away the empty plates from the tables.

Chihiro was pleased for her, not to mention proud of herself for her performance, and offered to help clean up before she left to walk home. She liked Cass and she liked her friends too. They were so much the opposite of the women in her family, most of whom were even more reserved than she was. After she'd packed away her music, she started moving some of the tables back into place from where Cass had cleared a stage area at one end of the restaurant.

"Here, let me get that."

The voice wasn't Cass, like she would have expected. Instead, it was male. Chihiro turned to see a tall boy wearing a black baseball cap. "Oh. Sure, thanks. I thought everyone had left."

"You probably didn't see me. I was hiding in the far corner, hoping I didn't get roped into participating," he joked, sliding one of the larger tables back into place - much more easily than Chihiro had struggled to do.

"So you weren't here for the poetry night?" Chihiro asked uncertainly, unsure if she should warn Cass that there was still someone loitering around after the café had obviously closed.

"I thought I'd check out the last half hour or so to see how things were going," he said. "I only live upstairs. Aunt Cass has been really excited about the events she's got lined up for this week."

" _Oh_." Now everything made sense. This was clearly the other nephew that Cass had mentioned getting to help her out. "You're the one who moved the piano into here."

"Yeah, that old thing's been sat in the garage for years. It's nice to see it getting put to use. I heard some of your playing at the end there - you're really good," he commended.

Chihiro's face flooded with colour. "Oh, um, thank you..."

"Aunt Cass said you're gonna be playing here all week, right?"

"That's right!" Cass cut in cheerfully, as she passed by with a stack of plates. "Chihiro's gonna be my star performer of Golden Week!"

"I don't know about that..." Chihiro mumbled, blushing even more. She really wasn't used to so much praise. Not from anyone other than Tatsu anyway.

The boy chuckled. "Don't mind Aunt Cass; she just gets easily excited over things." He held out his hand cheerfully. "I'm Tadashi, by the way."

"Chihiro," she replied shyly, even though Cass had just said her name a few seconds ago.

She'd never particularly thought of herself as small before, but his hand completely enveloped hers as she returned the handshake. He seemed oddly familiar to her and as she peered at his face, she realised why. He was the man who'd held the door open for her yesterday, only he now looked much younger clean shaven and not at all intimidating. The difference was remarkable. His eyes were much brighter too; all traces of the dark circles now gone.

"What; have I got something on my face?" he joked.

Chihiro realised then that she was basically staring at him and hastily dropped her gaze. "Oh, no, it's just... you shaved." She then mentally cursed herself for sounding so obvious.

Tadashi just laughed and didn't comment on the fact that she'd remembered him. "Was the beard really that noticeable? I'd pulled a couple of all-nighters in a row, so I figured it was time to clean myself up a bit."

"Where do you work?" Chihiro asked politely.

"It's more of a scholarship really," said Tadashi. "At the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. I'm in robotics."

"Wow." So he was smart as well as friendly. Chihiro didn't know the first thing about robotics, but she did know that the Institute of Technology was a very prestigious university. "So does that mean you've been making something?"

Tadashi nodded. "It's a concept for part of a think tank that the university is producing. I was determined to get some design kinks fixed before I remembered important things like sleep and having a life."

Chihiro smiled. "Sounds like it must be a fun project. What are you working on?"

"It's top secret." Tadashi mimed putting a finger to his lips, then laughed. "At least until it's finished and I can be sure it works."

"Tadashi, could you bring me the vacuum from upstairs please?" Cass interrupted. "I don't know what Mrs. Fujibayashi's son was doing, but it looks like a couple of donuts exploded over here."

"Sure thing, Aunt Cass," Tadashi laughed. He shot Chihiro a smile. "It was nice to meet you. I guess I'll see you around."

"Oh. You too." Chihiro then silently cursed herself again for the amount of times she'd said 'oh' in the last few minutes. She may not have been a social butterfly, but she could have at least sounded like more of a conversationalist.

Tadashi disappeared upstairs and Chihiro hurried over to rescue Cass, who was balancing another tower of plates that were wobbling precariously. "Thanks, Chihiro," said Cass gratefully. "Just put them over on the counter. Carry on home - I'm almost finished up here."

"Are you sure?" Chihiro checked, envisioning hearing a crash of plates the moment she walked out the door.

"Of course! I'm paying you to play music; not clean. Don't ruin those piano fingers," Cass teased. "There's still some pastries left in the display case, so take a couple with you for the road."

"Oh, no, that's okay," Chihiro assured.

"Take some! They'll just go to waste otherwise," Cass insisted. "They'll be no good tomorrow."

With Cass watching her, Chihiro had no choice but to take one of the little white paper bags and scoop two pastries and a donut into it, if she didn't want to offend her. "Thanks. I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow, Chihiro."

Chihiro couldn't resist peeking inside her new goody bag on her way back home. She hadn't initially turned down Cass's offer because she didn't like sweets - it was because she liked sweets too much. She'd picked up a chocolate covered donut, a crunchy cinnamon whirl and what looked like a very sugary apple turnover. She loved anything apple flavoured.

She decided to eat the latter as she was walking. She pulled it out of the paper bag, tucking the rest safely under her arm as sugar crystals immediately clung to her fingers, and took a bite. Her taste buds exploded from the sweet and bitter contrast of the sugar and the smooth, pickled apple filling. She immediately took another large bite. It was delicious.

That was what she'd been afraid of. If free pastries came with the job every night, then her résumé wasn't the only thing that would be changing after this week; she'd be getting fat too.


	2. Exposition

The following night at the café was a quiz night. Chihiro spent most of the day working on a new piece of music that she'd begun composing. She had the first few stanzas down, but couldn't find a suitable theme to bridge them together, let alone anything after that. When she got fed up of staring at a blank page, she left the house and went shopping instead. At least, her version of shopping.

She wasn't particularly a fan of shopping. When most people went shopping, they ended up returning with plenty of things that they didn't need, having wasted their money on impulse buys. Chihiro didn't want to do that. She needed to save her money for the new piano she wanted, not waste it. Besides, there was nothing else she could possibly want to get. What she liked to do when shopping was simply use the opportunity to wander round aimlessly and daydream. Her mind worked so much better when she'd had time to clear it.

At least, it usually did. After she came back and made a quick sandwich for lunch, she sat back down at the old piano, only to continue staring at the page like she'd never moved. This composition had clearly decided to be difficult. Chihiro knew from past frustrations that you couldn't force your muse. Her muse was apparently on a day off, so she decided to give up on it for now and try again tomorrow.

When the evening rolled round, Chihiro dressed in her best navy skirt, teamed with a loose sleeved, floaty blouse and matching lace-up dolly shoes that looked a little like ballet slippers. She attempted to tame her hair by pulling it all up high on one side, but it just seemed to like being naturally untidy and strands had already started to fall loose before she'd even left the house. She gave up on appearance - none of that would change the fact that she supposedly looked miserable anyway - and headed out.

She relished the walk down to the café. Partly because it gave her more opportunity to clear her head and partly because the air was crisp and fresh. Apparently, it was going to be the only dry day that week until the weekend. Chihiro hated the rain. She seemed to have the inherent ability to land her feet in every puddle she tried to avoid. Soggy feet were pretty much the bane of her existence.

She got there a little earlier than she needed to. She liked the extra time to set up, just in case the piano needed any tuning. Cass had wanted her there an hour before the quiz night started, as she was to set up and then play whilst customers were coming in for the event, but even she seemed surprised to see Chihiro there so early. "Wow, anyone would think you're almost eager to come to work," she commented lightly.

Chihiro just shrugged. "I do like working." At least she did now anyway.

Cass smiled. "Well, a happy staff is the first step to a good working environment. Make yourself at home and get settled in. Would you like a hot drink?"

Chihiro declined the offer and busied herself with setting up at the piano instead. She tested the sound, but the piano didn't need tuning in the slightest. That wasn't unusual. Very rarely had she actually made use of the extra time she allowed for tuning. She pulled out all of her sheet music and sorted them into the order that she was going to use tonight. It didn't take too long. Once she was ready, she tinkered away on the keys a little and watched the clientele who were already in the café. Tonight, it seemed to mostly be college students. They all appeared to be around her age. She didn't see either of Cass's nephews though. She wondered what it would be like to live above a working establishment like this. Noisy, for a start.

Once more people started to come in, Cass motioned across the room for Chihiro to start playing early. Chihiro was happy with that. She began with the same favourite sad piece of hers that she'd played at the restaurant on the same night that Cass had hired her. Once her fingers started moving, everyone in the room that she'd been watching vanished as she slipped inside her own mind, filled with nothing but the melody and a ghost image of the notes in front of her.

When it finished, she continued straight into a composition of her own that had actually been inspired by that sad piece. The difference was unnoticeable - she flowed from one to the other like moving from one chapter of a book to the next. It was easy to see where she'd gotten her inspiration from. She included a few more pieces of her own music amongst her session, as well as some classic movie scores like Cass had suggested. They were primarily going to be used for the movie night, but if this quiz was anything like ones she'd taken part in, she figured they'd be appropriate for this too. She stuck to the basics. A bit of John Williams and Alan Silvestri.

It didn't feel like very long before Cass was motioning again for her to stop. The phrase 'losing yourself in the music' really was a true thing. It had always been that way for Chihiro. She finished the song she was playing. When she looked up, she saw the room had filled without her noticing. It was even busier than yesterday. It wasn't all just college students either now. She recognised a couple of faces from the beat poetry night. They were clearly friends of Cass. That or they just really liked the café.

She started tidying some of her music away, leaving the other half for when she had to play again after the quiz had ended, but she didn't get very far before Cass came over and stopped her. "No, no, don't worry about that now. You can do that later, otherwise you'll miss out on the quiz."

"Err, the quiz?" Chihiro repeated uncertainly. She was expected to participate too? She wasn't very good at quizzes. Her general knowledge was awful.

"Yep. Groups of three or more and my nephews need a third," Cass insisted. "If I can find where one of them has disappeared to..." As Cass was technically her boss for the week, Chihiro wasn't sure if she could really say no, so she allowed the kooky baker to push her in the direction of one of the tables, before she headed towards the stairs, calling, "Hiro! I saw you here just a second ago!"

Chihiro found herself standing in front of the table where Cass's other nephew, Tadashi, was sat. "Oh, hi..."

He smiled at her. "So you got roped into the quiz too, huh?"

"I'm not sure how," said Chihiro, hovering awkwardly. "I'm supposed to be working; not playing."

"Well, I only popped back to grab something. Now I'm participating," Tadashi chuckled. "Next time I'll have to make it more Mission Impossible in order to get upstairs safely."

Chihiro smiled. "I'd say I could try and hide you behind the piano, but apparently that doesn't work or I wouldn't be part of the team too."

Tadashi laughed. "Why don't you sit down?"

Chihiro did so, smoothing down her skirt self-consciously. She'd never really been much of a people person. She wasn't a complete hermit - she could interact when spoken to and she was happy to let her guard down once she was more comfortable around someone - but she wasn't used to engaging in more than just brief, casual conversation with strangers. The realisation made her feel somewhat stupid. Everybody she knew had started off as strangers. It was just that she'd known all of the same people for so long that she couldn't really remember being at that stage with them. Her social life had never been particularly adventurous. More of a routine really.

She glanced back in search of Cass, but she'd now disappeared completely. Most likely upstairs in search of her other nephew, who had clearly attempted a more daring escape. "I don't know if I'll be much use," she confessed to Tadashi. "I'm not very good at quizzes."

"That's okay," Tadashi assured. "I'll take any science questions, you can cover music and we'll count on Hiro to take care of movies and TV."

"What about if world politics comes up?"

"Hmm, then we'll have to wing it."

Chihiro couldn't help but smile again. She didn't know why she felt so nervous. Tadashi had a very easy manner about him. He was pleasant to talk to. She cast around to recall what he'd told her yesterday. "How's your project going?"

"Awful," he said with a laugh. "I've hit a few problems that I just can't seem to get around. That's why I didn't really want to get roped into the quiz, but I guess it might help to get away from it for a bit."

Chihiro understood that feeling completely. When you hit the point where you were constantly trying to force something, it was time to take a break. Forced work never showed your true potential. "I know the feeling."

"I'm guessing you must get it with composing," Tadashi said, understanding.

"Oh, um, yeah." She wasn't sure why, but Chihiro had never really liked discussing her compositions with people, particularly those she didn't know very well. It was just such a personal thing to her. Still, she tried to venture a little more. "Whenever I get that problem, I generally tend to give up and go for a walk instead. It usually helps to go back after a while with fresh eyes. Well... I guess ears, in my case."

They were interrupted by Hiro joining them sulkily. He sank into the seat next to Tadashi with a bump. "Why do _we_ have to do this? I made a much more daring escape attempt than you did and she still caught me."

"Well, Aunt Cass is a force to be reckoned with."

The woman in question soon swung by their table with quiz sheets and ballpoint pens. She seemed satisfied that Hiro was where he was supposed to be. "Pick your team name, guys," she said, slapping down a sheet and dishing out the pens. "We'll be starting the first round in five minutes."

"You're sure you don't want anymore music?" Chihiro tried.

"I doubt we'd even hear it over this racket," said Cass, oblivious to Chihiro's ploy, jabbing a thumb towards the two tables behind her that were loudly discussing team names.

"Nice try," Tadashi said teasingly as Cass moved onto the next table.

"Aunt Cass doesn't let anyone get away that easily," Hiro agreed, pushing the sheet away from him.

Tadashi obligingly picked up one of the pens. "So what are we thinking for a name? Team Reluctant?"

Hiro snorted. "I'm good with that."

"You don't think we'll be expected to participate in all of the events this week, do you?" said Chihiro worriedly. A quiz was one thing, but just the idea of the speed dating was setting alarm bells off in her head.

"If that's Aunt Cass's plan, then I'm gonna start pulling all-nighters at the university," Tadashi decided.

There was a sharp screech through the speakers that were set up at the front of the café, followed by Cass giving the microphone a bang and then sheepishly apologising. Judging by the fact that she'd done the exact same thing yesterday when setting up for the beat poetry night, Chihiro was guessing it was a common thing. At least she wasn't the only one who didn't get along with technology.

"Thank you everyone for coming," Cass said into the microphone, once she'd managed to adjust the sound. "Let's get this quiz underway. Our first round is on world politics..."

"Hey, you weren't peeking at her question list, were you?" Tadashi gave Chihiro an amused look.

Chihiro shook her head quickly. "I think I must have jinxed it."

"We're doomed," Hiro groaned.

They managed to muddle their way through the first set of questions. Following that were rounds on geography and history. Chihiro still felt she wasn't much help. History had never interested her and she wasn't well versed in geography, besides the basics of continents. She'd only ever visited two different cities. Fortunately, it turned out that Hiro was just as smart as his brother and the two of them were easily able to cover those topics.

"Next up is the music round," Cass announced over the speakers.

"Looks like it's your time to shine, Chihiro," Tadashi said encouragingly. Chihiro still wasn't so sure. If the questions were on anything that was currently in the charts, then she wouldn't have a clue.

"Question number one," Cass began. "Which musical icon had a stillborn twin brother named Jessie?"

"I actually know that one!" Chihiro exclaimed suddenly.

She sounded so surprised by it that Tadashi laughed. He pushed the pen and quiz sheet in front of her. "Then go for it."

His handwriting was neat, unlike Chihiro's usual scrawl. She didn't want to ruin the quiz sheet with it, so she concentrated on keeping her writing tidier than usual as she carefully printed out the name 'Elvis Presley'. To her delight, she knew nearly all of the answers to the music questions. The only one that felled her was one asking which Kardashian was married to Kanye West. She took a stab at it, but apparently, there were a lot of Kardashians.

Cass led them into the next round, which was on soap operas. This time, there was a collective groan from what sounded like most of the males in the room. "You don't watch soaps, do you?" Hiro asked hopefully.

Chihiro shook her head. She didn't watch much TV at all. She'd always preferred movies. "Sorry."

"I think we really are doomed," Tadashi chuckled. "Trust Aunt Cass to pull this one out."

Their team ended up coming in third place, once Cass had tallied up the results - she shot them a frown when she read out their team name, which they all laughed at. Having an entire round on soap operas had killed off whatever lead they might have gained. Personally, Chihiro didn't think they'd done too badly. She'd done quizzes when she'd been in school and some with her family when she was younger, but she'd never ranked anywhere higher than near last before.

"Thanks for participating, guys," Cass said as she came over to their table afterwards, ignoring Hiro muttering that she hadn't given them any choice. "Chihiro, can I get you back on the piano for the next twenty minutes until we close?"

"Oh, of course!" Chihiro jumped up and hurried back over to the piano, hastily rearranging her music.

By the time Cass was closing up the café, Chihiro was feeling quite happy. The quiz had actually been quite fun - even if she hadn't known a lot of the answers - she was still thoroughly enjoying getting to play whatever music she liked and two college girls had even come up to her before they'd left and told her how beautiful they'd found the last piece that she'd played. As it had been one of her own compositions, she was over the moon.

"Hey, Aunt Cass; I'm gonna head on back to the university for a while to get some more work done," Tadashi informed his aunt. He'd spent the last twenty minutes packing away the speakers and microphone for her and then stacking up some of the extra chairs. Hiro had made his speedy departure upstairs the moment he'd been free from the quiz.

"It's already pretty late..." Cass reproached. "Just make sure you don't work yourself too hard."

"With the way I'm going, that shouldn't be a problem," Tadashi laughed. He waved over to Chihiro, who was packing away her music. "See you tomorrow, teammate."

"See you tomorrow," Chihiro responded politely. "I hope you have better luck with your project."

"Thanks," he smiled. "I hope you have better luck with your composition."

Chihiro's hand faltered over her sheet music. She watched over the top of the piano as Tadashi left, trying to remember if she'd even mentioned that she was currently struggling with a composition.

**XXX**

The following morning, Chihiro was dismayed to learn that her muse was still evading her. She stared at the mostly blank page for almost an hour before deciding to give up and go for a walk again, seeing as the rainy weather forecast didn't seem to have caught up yet. She took a different route this time. Rather than going through the city centre, she went round one of the back roads where the music store was that was holding the piano she wanted to buy once she had enough money. Maybe going for another look at it might give her some of the inspiration she needed.

She preferred the quieter streets. Because she tended to daydream a lot and get easily distracted, it meant there were less people for her to be likely to bump into. She meandered quietly along the back streets, letting her mind wander and glancing inside store windows as she passed, in the hopes of spying anything that could possibly provide inspirational value. She walked by an old-fashioned cake shop, but very purposely strode past without looking inside. That was one thing she definitely didn't need to spend her money on.

She could smell the strong, fragrant scent of coffee before even reaching the small Starbucks branch that sat on the corner. She'd never really been a fan of coffee, but she'd always quite liked the smell. Her eyes roved over the room through the window as she passed. She stopped when she spotted a familiar looking baseball cap, realising with surprise that she recognised one of the patrons just beyond the window.

She hovered outside, unsure if she should stop and say hello or just keep walking. He looked like he was working - his head bowed over a book and a mug of coffee - so maybe she shouldn't disturb him. Whilst she was deliberating, as if he knew somebody was there, he looked up and Chihiro immediately felt her face colour. Now it was going to look like she'd just been standing there and watching him. But he smiled and waved her inside.

The scent of coffee was even stronger indoors. She ducked past the queue leading towards the serving counter and made her way over to Tadashi's table. He looked tired. His eyes were shadowed and the beginnings of stubble were starting to creep across his face, like the first time she'd saw him. The book he was perusing was held open at a complicated diagram that she couldn't even begin to make sense of.

"I'm guessing your project's still not going so well?"

"That easy to tell, huh?" he smiled ruefully. "What about you? How's the composing going?"

"Well, apparently my muse has gone on vacation, so I'm just trying to find inspiration from anything right now," Chihiro confessed. "There's a little music store around here and they have the most beautiful piano for sale that I'm hoping to buy when I eventually have enough money, but for now, I thought if I went down for another look, it might just get the creativity flowing..." She realised that she'd carried on rambling without really meaning to. She already knew that most people didn't understand what was going on inside her head. "Um, I mean, I know that sounds kind of weird..." 

"Doesn't sound weird to me," Tadashi assured her. "Creativity's not always the most cooperative. Sometimes you have to actively find ways to make that inspiration come to you, rather than just waiting for it to happen."

"Err, right..." said Chihiro, surprised. She couldn't say she really knew anything about robotics, but she felt a little silly for never realising there was clearly creativity involved.

"Did you want to sit down?" Tadashi offered, kicking out the seat that was opposite him.

"Oh, no, I can see you're still working. I didn't mean to disturb you or anything - I just thought I'd come and say hi." She realised that sounded lame, so she hastily looked around, thinking of anything else to say. "Though I think your aunt might feel betrayed if she knew you were in a chain place like this."

Tadashi laughed. "I know; I feel guilty just being here. I needed to get away from my lab for a while and I love Aunt Cass, but she doesn't always get that sometimes I just need some space to work. I mean, the quiz last night was fun, but it wasn't really something I intended to get roped into."

"I can't say I did either," Chihiro agreed.

He laughed again. "Once we're finished with the think tank at the university, then I'll happily do as many quizzes as she wants. Just as long as there's no more soap opera rounds."

"I think that was more for the benefit of her friends than anyone else," said Chihiro. The women from the beat poetry night had been one of the teams last night. Chihiro could remember hearing them talking about some show she'd never heard of, which had turned out to be one of the soaps there'd been a lot of questions on.

"Yeah, did you notice how they won? I think it must have been a fix," Tadashi joked.

"Definitely a fix," Chihiro smiled. "Anyway, I really am going to stop disturbing you now and let you get on with your work."

"Well, I hope the music store can make you feel a little more inspired," said Tadashi. He then chuckled. "Or maybe the speed dating will later."

Chihiro made a face. "I'm sincerely hoping your aunt won't want me to participate in that as well."

"Try hiding _under_ the piano this time," Tadashi laughed.

"Hmm, thanks for the advice. If I get desperate, I just might try that."

Tadashi grinned. "And maybe don't tell Aunt Cass that you saw me in here."

Chihiro rearranged her bag over her shoulder and put on her best innocent look as she was walking away. "Saw you where?"


	3. Rhythm

"Here."

Chihiro stared blankly as Cass plonked a glass jar down in front of her on the top of the piano. It was empty. She had no idea what she was expected to do with it.

Cass laughed at the confused look on her face. "It's a tip jar. I'm just sorry I didn't think of the idea myself or we could have done this for you over the last two nights as well."

Chihiro felt awkward. "Oh, you really don't need to do that. I mean, you're already paying me as it is."

"It's no skin off my nose," Cass assured. "If people want to tip you, then you should let them, especially if you're saving for a new piano. Every little helps, right?"

"Err, right," Chihiro agreed. "Then thank you."

Cass smiled knowingly. "Don't thank me."

Chihiro realised where the idea must have come from and she felt her face colour. She certainly hadn't mentioned to Cass that she wanted to buy a new piano. She gazed at the empty jar in front of her, feeling quite touched. She wasn't used to people doing things for her. She'd certainly never had her own tip jar before. Only the waitresses had that at the restaurant. Feeling a little flustered, she busied herself by sorting through the sheet music in front of her, even though she'd already put it all into order.

Tonight, the café was arranged completely differently. Chihiro had gotten there early, as usual, and helped Cass to separate all of the tables with a chair on either side, so that the occupants could talk to each other more easily. Tonight was the speed dating event. Chihiro had never been so relieved to hear Cass ask if she could begin playing as soon as people started to come in for the event, right through until closing. That meant she wouldn't be expected to participate this time and that she could stay safe behind the piano. That was more than okay with her.

"Good evening, everyone," Cass greeted when the café was full and everyone was sitting down. It was the only time she'd asked Chihiro to stop playing. "Welcome to the Lucky Cat Café and our first ever speed dating event. The rules are simple. As you can see, I've already been round to make sure everyone has a seat to start off with. Whenever you hear this bell..." She hit the top of a push bell that she'd set on top of the counter. It made a loud ping. "The women will all stay put and the men will move counter clockwise onto the next table. You have three minutes per date to talk about whatever you'd like. Though please keep things appropriate. If there's any complaints, you will be forced to leave. I promise you all I make a very good bouncer." There was an appreciative laugh from the attendees. "And now, we'll begin. Have fun." She clanged the bell again to get things started.

Chihiro went back to her music and continued playing. She'd put together a few of her compositions, mixed mostly with a selection of works from the romantic period. She figured it would be keeping in with the tone of the event. She moved into a composition by Rousseau - the first piece she'd ever learnt to play. She knew it like the back of her hand; enough that her fingers would just move independently over the keys without her having to look or even listen.

Whilst her hands went into auto pilot, she took the opportunity to scope out what was happening in the event. Though she'd been adamant she wouldn't want to be involved, she had to admit she was curious as to what speed dating would be like, so she attempted to listen in on some of the nearby couples over the sounds of her music. Most of the attendees seemed to be at least in their thirties, if not older. Clearly younger people didn't go in for this kind of thing. As she listened, Chihiro could see why.

Some of the lines of questioning sounded downright scary. One man was running through questions so quickly, in order to make the most of his time, that the woman opposite him couldn't keep up. It would be like being on a date with a drill sergeant. Another woman was asking the kind of questions that would send most people running; Chihiro included. How soon would you want kids, where do you see yourself in five years time, where would you want to get married... Chihiro knew she couldn't have answered any of those questions even if she'd wanted to.

The woman on the next table sounded like she was trying to hack into people's bank accounts. What's your middle name, your mother's maiden name, the place you grew up, the name of your first pet... Chihiro wasn't sure if she should warn Cass that she seemed to be trying to get answers to security questions, but it turned out that the woman was just even more socially awkward than she was. Then behind the drill sergeant, she could hear another man droning on about every possible aspect of Game of Thrones. The poor woman facing him looked ready to fall asleep. If Chihiro had been able to reach the bell from where she was playing, she would have hit it to spare her the torture.

She was right in thinking she'd never want to attend a speed dating event. After this, she couldn't have been paid to do it. Feeling like she'd heard enough, Chihiro immersed herself back into her music. Now that was a much more comfortable environment. Give her something to listen to rather than someone to talk to any day. At least not any of the people sat around her here. She thanked her lucky stars once again that she didn't have to take part.

However, when the event was over and people were starting to leave, quite a few of them seemed pretty happy and some actually looked like close with their selected dates. Chihiro even saw one pair share a quick peck on the lips before leaving. After three minutes? That was quick work for anyone. She could barely hack a three-minute conversation with someone she didn't know; let alone want to follow through to anything more intimate than that.

Once the final people had left, Chihiro stopped playing to help Cass move the tables and chairs back to their original places. She wondered if the café had ever been rearranged as much as it had during this week alone. She actually got the feeling that Cass was the kind of person who'd suddenly completely redecorate if she got just the slightest bit bored with her surroundings. Cass turned the closed sign round on the door and then disappeared upstairs with trays of cups and plates to wash up, leaving Chihiro to pack away her music.

She automatically put everything back into her bag in order of artist. She wasn't obsessive compulsive by any stretch, but her music always had to be right. She was a little more concerned about how tomorrow night was going to go. Tomorrow was a dance class. Waltzes weren't a problem; she knew plenty of those. She'd been practicing some more upbeat music of the kind that Cass had helped her to pick out for some other dances, but she was still concerned that she might screw up. Upbeat wasn't exactly her thing, but the music was going to be a very important part of the class. It felt like a lot more pressure than any of the other events. She'd never been great at getting out of her comfort zone.

The bell on top of the counter suddenly dinged loudly and Chihiro almost jumped out of her skin. She gasped and dropped some of her music back onto the piano. Her head snapped up to see Tadashi hovering next to the counter, looking torn between amusement and guilt over her reaction.

"Sorry," he grinned sheepishly. "I didn't mean to make you jump."

"Are you sure?" Chihiro breathed. "Because you did a pretty good job at it."

"Hey, it's not my fault you were in your own little world there," he said, amused. "I thought you would have heard me come in."

Chihiro remembered that there was another, much less offensive bell that hung over the door. It jangled every time someone opened it. Well, she had always been an expert at daydreaming. "In my defence, that bell's a lot quieter than this one."

Tadashi chuckled. "Touché."

"So I notice how you've turned up conveniently after the speed dating finished," Chihiro pointed out with a smile.

"That was the intended master plan," Tadashi grinned. "What about you? Did you manage to escape it too?"

"Thankfully, yes. I've never been so grateful to hear your aunt tell me to play all the way through to closing," Chihiro swore.

"So was it as horrendous as you expected?"

"Maybe even worse," said Chihiro. "Some of the people had really intense questioning techniques. One woman seemed more like she was conducting interviews and then one of the guys was firing off questions so quickly, I'm surprised anyone managed to answer any of them. I would have been terrified by both. I don't think I overheard anyone ask a halfway normal question like you'd expect."

Tadashi laughed. "What counts as normal nowadays?" 

Chihiro shrugged. "Well, I can't say I have any dating experience, but I'd think things like what do you like to do in your free time and what's your favourite food would be a good start. I feel you'd learn more about someone from questions like that than like what was your first word as a child and what age do you plan to be married by."

"Wow. Did people seriously ask those?"

"I wish I could say I was kidding. I think anyone who sat at either of their tables were relieved when the bell rang."

"I'll bet," Tadashi laughed. "I'm sure Aunt Cass is disappointed that it was a flop."

"Oh, I wouldn't say it was all bad," said Chihiro. "There were some people who seemed to hit it off. A few couples actually left together. I was quite surprised."

"Why surprised? Did you think it was going to be a flop too? I promise I won't tell Aunt Cass," Tadashi said teasingly.

Chihiro couldn't help but smile. "It's not that; it's more the concept altogether. I guess I just don't feel you can learn that much about someone in three minutes."

"Alright..." Tadashi picked up the bell and sat it on top of the piano instead. "First rule we have in science is not to claim anything unless you have evidence to back it up or are prepared to experiment against it. So let's test your theory."

"Really?" Chihiro asked, eyeing the bell warily, only half amused now. The idea of what seemed basically like a question and answer session really didn't feel all that appealing.

"You're not gonna blow me off before I've even asked anything, are you?" Tadashi joked.

Chihiro couldn't resist laughing. She guessed it wasn't like he was a total stranger. She actually felt surprisingly comfortable around him, considering she wasn't exactly a people person. Maybe it wouldn't be all that bad. "I guess I should give you the benefit of the doubt... But only if we can take turns asking questions."

"Deal." Tadashi pulled his cell phone from his pocket and set a timer on it, placing it next to the bell so that the display read three minutes. "Ready?"

Chihiro playfully hit the bell three times like the start of a wrestling match. "Ready."

Tadashi started the timer. "What's your favourite colour?"

"Blue. What's your favourite thing to do when you're not working?" She was determined to stick by the line of questioning she felt was more natural.

"Reading. What's your favourite food?"

"Hey, that was one of my questions," Chihiro protested.

"Well, they say all's fair," Tadashi pointed out, amused.

"Fine. Apple turnovers. What did you want to be when you were a kid?"

"An astronaut. Do you prefer hot weather or cold weather?"

"It depends on my mood. Just as long as it's not raining," Chihiro added as an afterthought. "What would you study if you weren't doing robotics?"

"Medicine."

"Really?" Chihiro was surprised by that one.

"Hey, you're wasting question time," Tadashi smiled, tapping the edge of his phone. "What's your favourite movie?"

"Moulin Rouge." Chihiro had to stop and think for a second. "What's your favourite composer?"

"Oh, is this where you try to catch me out?"

"Well, I need to make sure early on that you know at least something about music or this is never going to work," Chihiro joked.

"Cutting your losses, huh?" Tadashi chuckled. "Does Hans Zimmer class as a cheat?"

"No way. Hans Zimmer's an incredible composer."

"Good. What would be your ideal date?"

Chihiro resisted the urge to make a face. The typical ideas of going to amusement parks and fancy restaurants definitely weren't her kind of thing. "Actually, I'd be happy just going out walking somewhere. Again, providing it's not raining." She hoped that didn't sound too lame. She tried to think of a more ridiculous question to cover it up. "What's something you'd never be caught dead wearing?"

Tadashi laughed. "Other than the obvious involving any kind of women's clothing, how about sandals with socks?"

Chihiro giggled. "Good choice."

From then, the questions got more outlandish and silly. Chihiro was sure she hadn't laughed so much in a long time. She knew she often took things too seriously - it was nice to feel like she didn't have to care so much. Tadashi was so laidback and good-humoured that she found herself bantering a lot more than she usually did with anyone other than Tatsu. She always worried that people who didn't know her so well might take offence to something she was only saying in jest, but now she wasn't even thinking about that.

"Okay, I have a good one," she decided. Thinking of Tatsu made her remember a game they'd once played when cleaning tables after the restaurant had closed. "Tell me three things about yourself, but one of them has to be a lie."

"Two truths and a lie. That's not exactly a question," Tadashi pointed out.

"But it's a good non-question," Chihiro insisted.

"Then only if you answer it too," Tadashi negotiated.

"Okay."

He thought about it for a few moments, leaning against the piano. "Alright. I still have all my old comic books, I'm a horrible cook and I'm pretty sure my little brother is probably smarter than me."

"Well, I'm hoping the horrible cook part is the lie, because I feel quality of food is very important," Chihiro teased.

"Actually, it is," he grinned. "I'm not as good as Aunt Cass, but I'm not bad either."

"So that means you really think Hiro is smarter than you?" Chihiro was surprised by that one. She got the feeling that Tadashi was already pretty smart. The reputation of the university he worked at already suggested that.

"I wouldn't tell him that. But he's without a doubt a boy genius in the making," Tadashi said fondly. "Anyway, I believe it's your turn."

Chihiro racked her brains for something she could use. "Okay then... I've never been out of the country, I can't whistle and I was once in quite a big stage production of A Midsummer Night's Dream."

"Hmm... I get the feeling you prefer not to be the centre of attention, so that would cross off the stage option, except I reckon you're leading me to think that's the lie..." Tadashi jokingly made a show of deliberating. "So I'm gonna go with you can't whistle."

Chihiro gave him an amused smile and hit the bell for effect. "That would be correct. The stage production may have been big, but I was only six and I played the part of a tree."

"A tree?" Tadashi laughed. "They still do that? I thought they'd just have trees as part of the backdrop."

"Hey, I was an awesome tree, okay? Way better than any backdrop," Chihiro claimed lightly.

Tadashi chuckled. "I'm sure you were."

Chihiro finally glanced back down at Tadashi's phone. The timer read zero. She had a feeling it had been like that for a while. "I think we overrun the three minutes by quite a bit."

"Well, I don't think we were taking the last part of it very seriously anyway," said Tadashi in amusement. "So do you still think you can't learn much about someone in three minutes?"

"Okay, okay, I was wrong," Chihiro conceded dramatically. "I suppose I did learn some things. I learnt you like Hans Zimmer, which is a good start."

"And I learnt that you're not a fan of the rain, so you're probably not going to be too happy right now..." Tadashi pointed towards the window.

Chihiro's gaze followed the direction of his hand with dismay. Although it was dark out, she could see streaks of rain falling by the light of the street lamp on the corner. "Aw, man..."

"Don't worry. I'll give you a ride home," Tadashi offered. "I only have a scooter, so it's not exactly going to be the driest, but the helmet will at least keep your head sheltered and it'll get you home faster than walking."

"Oh, you really don't have to do that," Chihiro assured hastily, surprised but touched by the gesture. "I don't wanna make you go out of your way."

"You're not making me do anything; I'm offering," Tadashi pointed out with a smile. "Besides, it was probably my fault for keeping you so long. Wait here and I'll just run and grab the helmets."

He then headed upstairs before Chihiro could protest any further. It was really nice of him, but she was already feeling flustered. She'd never been on a scooter before. It would be just like her to suddenly develop motion sickness at the age of twenty. Was she dressed appropriately to go on a scooter? Somehow she had a feeling that wearing a skirt would make it more difficult to climb on and off. She hastily stuffed the remainder of her sheet music back into her bag, forgetting any sense of order.

Tadashi came back downstairs with a black helmet already in place of his usual baseball cap and a green and white striped one in his hands. "I told Aunt Cass that you're leaving, so she knows to lock the doors. Have you got everything?"

"Err, yeah." Chihiro awkwardly put the helmet on that he handed her, but it didn't seem to fit properly. The inside felt bumpy in all the wrong places and she could barely see past the front part of it.

"You've clearly never worn one of these before," Tadashi laughed. "You've got it on backwards. Here, let me help."

"Oh, sorry." Chihiro felt her face flood red. How embarrassing. She couldn't even put a helmet on properly. Her cheeks grew even hotter as Tadashi turned it the right way for her and even helped to clip it into place underneath her chin when she started fumbling with the straps like some kind of child. She tried not to flinch when his fingers brushed her skin. "Thanks."

"No problem," Tadashi smiled good-naturedly. He led her out to where his cherry red scooter was parked in front of the café. Saving her dithering over how best to climb on, he advised, "I'll hold it for you. Climb on the front and just slide back if it's easier."

"Okay," Chihiro said in barely more than a squeak, now feeling nervous and thoroughly wishing that her skirt was a thousand times longer than it actually was.

Thankfully, she managed to climb on easier than she expected and without any embarrassing mishaps. She gratefully slid backwards and up onto the higher back seat. It wasn't raining as much as she'd thought. If anything, the cool droplets actually felt nice against her warm skin right now. She wasn't sure where she was supposed to hold onto. She awkwardly clutched the back of the seat behind her as Tadashi smoothly climbed on in front. She told him the name of her street when he asked where she lived.

"I'll try and get us out of the rain as quickly as I can," Tadashi told her over his shoulder. "So hold on tight to me, okay?"

"Um, okay," she squeaked.

Though she would have preferred to have just held onto his shoulders, she could only imagine how mortifying it would be if she ended up falling off the back. Feeling her cheeks burn again, she gingerly wrapped her arms around Tadashi's waist. The hold pulled her closer to him on the seat, her legs pressing up against his sides. It was already pretty mortifying.

"Just hold on," Tadashi repeated, firing up the engine. "Here we go."

Chihiro instinctively clutched him tighter as they started moving and then even more so as they picked up speed. She sure hoped it didn't feel like a chokehold. The wind and the rain whipped past in a noisy blur, making it hard to see or hear. She was forced to bury her face against Tadashi's back to keep the worst of it from getting in her eyes. It probably should have been a little too cold to be comfortable, but she felt anything but cool.

She was too scared to either tighten or loosen her grip, so she kept her arms locked around Tadashi in the same rigid position, even though it didn't take long for them to begin to ache. He'd probably have to pry her off him when they got to her house. She could feel every movement of the muscles in his back as he navigated the scooter. It was making her insides flutter like butterflies.

She distinctly heard him shout something over the rain and the engine, which he then repeated a second time for her. "Which house is yours?"

She hadn't even realised they were on her street or that they'd slowed down. "On the right. There's two silver cars parked back to back out front."

Tadashi pulled over and parked up behind one of the cars she'd indicated. He climbed off first, then offered a hand to help Chihiro clamber down too, who took it gingerly. She felt a little stiff from sitting in one position for so long, but she managed not to show it. The ride had certainly been a lot of pressure on her nerves; not to mention pushing her far out of the social boundaries that she was used to. Her stomach was still churning and she wondered if it was actually anything to do with the scooter at all.

"I'll remember to drive slower next time," he laughed. "I get the feeling you didn't like that so much. At least that's what my ribs are telling me."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't hurt you, did I?" Chihiro asked anxiously.

Tadashi patted the top of her helmet, laughing. "Don't worry; I'm only kidding."

"Oh." Chihiro stupidly felt herself blush again. "But seriously, thanks so much for the ride," she said graciously, even though part of her felt it would have been much less nerve-wracking for her to have walked. She then remembered that she'd already been meaning to thank him. "Oh, and I wanted to say thanks for suggesting to Cass about the tip jar. That was really nice of you." She'd been delighted to have received her first few dollars in tips that night.

"Don't mention it. I figured it could only help if you're already saving," Tadashi smiled, as Chihiro took off her helmet and handed it to him. "Anyway, you should get in out of the rain or my efforts will have gone to waste."

"Okay. Thanks again," Chihiro repeated politely. "And drive safe."

"Will do." Tadashi climbed back onto the scooter, clipping the spare helmet onto the back seat and switching the engine on. "See you tomorrow, Chihiro."

"See you," Chihiro replied as he drove off. She made like she was heading towards the house, just in case he looked back, but she hesitated near the end of the driveway to watch him until he was out of sight. Only then did she go inside. 

When she got to her room and reached up to unclip the high side of her hair, she realised that it had gotten soaking wet after all from lingering on the driveway. She hadn't even noticed.


	4. Waltz

It was becoming almost routine for Chihiro to stare at her blank sheet music for an hour on a morning before eventually giving up once again. She stayed at the piano and tinkered away at the keys for a little while, creating a small and silly, entirely new piece with tapping, single note chords that sounded like raindrops on window panes. It wasn't exactly the kind of sound she was going for with her first piece, but she scribbled down the notes for it on a separate sheet before she gave up on the piano entirely.

Now what to do today? It was the dance class at the Lucky Cat Café for tonight. Although she was tempted - even if she wouldn't admit to herself why - it was far too early to head there yet. It wasn't even midday. Instead, she decided to wait until the lunchtime period, so that she could go and visit Tatsu at the restaurant to see how things had been going. She'd missed talking to her.

She put on a navy sweater dress, her favourite lace-up dolly shoes and headed out. She was pleased to see that it had stopped raining overnight. The ground was still wet and there were puddles to avoid, but the air was fairly warm and the scent of fresh rain hung heavy around her. She'd always loved that smell. It was like the smell of a tropical summer. She wondered absently if there was a name for it.

The restaurant was pretty quiet when she got there, as the lunchtime period was just starting up. Tatsu was delighted to see her. "Hey there, stranger. Come over and sit down for a bit."

Chihiro followed her to a table in the corner. "How's the restaurant been doing? Not missing me too much, I hope?"

"Actually, I think the San Fransokyo Drifters have been enjoying the extra shifts. They've accumulated quite the fan club on an evening," Tatsu laughed. "I've got Minagi acting as deputy manager whilst Ichiru's case is still ongoing. She really likes having the responsibilities."

"Do you think it's likely they'll allow him back?" Chihiro asked, concerned by the idea.

"We haven't heard anything about it, but they really keep that kind of thing under wraps," Tatsu explained. "Surely they wouldn't let him back after what he did though. Plus the restaurant has been thriving way more without him."

"It's clearly your amazing supervision," Chihiro commended. "When you're not slacking off like you are now, of course."

Tatsu pretended to whip her with the rag she'd been using to clean the bar. "Hey, hey, this is clearly a staff meeting," she grinned. "Anyway, enough about the restaurant... Check out you and all that natural glow you've got going on. Is that what being away from this place does to you?"

"Glow?" Chihiro repeated, bemused.

"Yeah, look at you! You look positively happy, by your standards," Tatsu teased. "Not even a hint of that resting sad face."

"You need to stop using that, because I won't be happy if it catches on," Chihiro warned, though she didn't really mind. It was okay when it was Tatsu. She never meant it as an insult.

"I'm serious though. Something's different," Tatsu insisted, playfully making a show of inspecting her face. "Wait a second, I think I recognise that glow... Is this about a boy, Chihiro?"

Chihiro immediately felt her face colour. "What? Why would you think that?"

Her reaction gave her away. Tatsu looked delighted."It is! You've met someone!"

"Wait a minute; I didn't even say anything!" Chihiro protested.

"You're telling me you're not thinking about a boy right now?" Tatsu pressed.

Chihiro's face grew even hotter. She was currently trying really hard not to think about anything, especially last night. Even though it was actually the only thing that had been on her mind all morning.

"Ha! I knew it!" said Tatsu triumphantly. "Come on, you already know I can read you like an open book. Plus I've seen plenty of young girls in the early stages of love to recognise that look anywhere."

"Whoa, you're the only one who's throwing the word 'love' around," Chihiro chimed in hastily.

"So who is he?" Tatsu continued, ignoring her. "Tell me all the details."

"There's no details," Chihiro objected. "I haven't 'met' anyone in the sense that you're talking about. I just know him from the café."

"So there _is_ a him you have in mind," Tatsu grinned. Chihiro grimaced at her own admission. "So do you like him?"

"I don't know..." Chihiro hedged uncomfortably.

"That means yes."

"What?"

"You either like someone or you don't," Tatsu said simply. "Saying you don't know means you do; you're just not ready to admit it yet."

Wow. Her logic was scarily accurate sometimes. "Who made you relationship expert?"

"Chihiro! I'm on the edge of my seat here," Tatsu pleaded, laughing. "The whole time I've known you, you've never shown even an inkling of interest in a guy. You've gotta give me something. Does he work at the café?"

Chihiro hesitated. She really hadn't been prepared to admit anything to herself yet; let alone anyone else, despite how much the scooter ride had kept trying to creep back into her thoughts. But Tatsu seemed really insistent on fast forwarding that process. Eventually, she allowed herself a little acceptance. "He lives above it. His aunt's the owner; she was the one who hired me."

"Wait..." Tatsu looked concerned. "Surely you don't mean the boy she was in here with."

"Not that nephew," Chihiro said hurriedly. "His older brother."

Tatsu seemed ecstatic now that she was finally divulging information. "Oooh, how old?"

Chihiro realised she hadn't actually asked. "Twenty maybe? He's working at the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology."

"Wow. So he's smart," Tatsu concluded.

Chihiro nodded. "Very smart."

"So what else? What's his name?" Tatsu pressed on. She could see the blush returning to Chihiro's cheeks again. "Come on, Chihiro, don't freak out just yet."

"You're talking to me like I'm an animal you don't want to spook," Chihiro protested.

"Well, that's because you're acting like one," Tatsu laughed. "Whether it's your first crush or not, this is all completely natural. What are you so embarrassed about?"

"I don't know..." Chihiro mumbled. "I guess this is just new to me. It feels weird; I've only actually known him for three days."

"So what? Sometimes just three minutes is all it takes to know you like someone," Tatsu pointed out.

She was so on point that Chihiro couldn't help but laugh. "Actually, I think you might be right there."

"I'm always right," Tatsu claimed, amused. "Now, tell me more."

"Okay, okay..." Chihiro tried to think of what the older woman might find interesting. "His name's Tadashi. He works in robotics at the university. Oh, he drives a scooter. I'm still not sure I liked that part."

"Wait, are you saying you've been on this scooter already?" Tatsu demanded.

"Um... He gave me a ride home last night."

Tatsu looked positively thrilled by the idea. "How was it?"

"Well, scary," Chihiro admitted. "Or embarrassing, more than anything, I guess. I was worried I might fall off, so I was holding onto him kind of tight." She could feel her face flushing again just thinking about it.

Tatsu giggled. "Oh, Chihiro, you're so adorable. I'm sure he didn't mind at all. So what else happened?"

"Erm, that was it really." Chihiro decided not to mention the speed date. It would probably sound more juicy than it actually was, seeing as it had only really been for a joke.

Tatsu was disappointed. "Well, you're going to have to keep looking out for signs then."

"I'm not sure what signs even are."

"Giving you a ride home is a sign," Tatsu pointed out. "Joking, bantering and flirting are all signs too."

"I'm not sure how to recognise flirting either," Chihiro confessed.

"Am I going to have to come down to this café myself and play watchdog?"

"Dear god, please, no," Chihiro said hastily. She could only imagine how much Tatsu would embarrass her.

Tatsu laughed at her reaction. "Didn't think so. Are you going to be seeing him tonight?"

"Maybe. I'm not sure," said Chihiro. She tried to ignore the butterflies in her stomach that were fluttering at the very idea. She still didn't understand how all of this had come on so fast. "He tries to steer clear of the events so that his aunt doesn't rope him into joining in, but he popped by after everything had finished last night."

"What's the event tonight?" Tatsu asked.

Chihiro's face fell when she remembered. "A dance class. Which reminds me I should probably get home to practice more. I'm really not so used to this upbeat music Cass wants me to play."

"So you're not going to be partaking in any dancing yourself?" Tatsu grinned as Chihiro got to her feet. "Even with a partner of your choice?"

"I can't play the piano and dance too," Chihiro replied exasperatedly. "How many limbs do you think I have?"

"Just the right amount," Tatsu smiled. "Anyway, thanks for stopping by, Chihiro. It was nice to see you. You'll have to let me know about any updates on the boy front."

Chihiro rolled her eyes, even though the idea made her feel nervous again. "If there are any."

**XXX**

After spending the rest of the day practicing, Chihiro felt a lot better about playing for the dance class. As it turned out, nobody who turned up had any previous dance experience - Chihiro strongly suspected that Cass hadn't either, even though she was the one trying to teach it - and the class never furthered past basic waltzes. That was definitely within Chihiro's comfort zone. She spent the evening playing and watching the class's progress in amusement, happy she certainly wouldn't have to participate with this one.

She glanced around the room every now and then, all the while telling herself that she was just observing and not looking for anyone in particular. Though halfway into the second half of the class, she was suddenly distinctly aware that Tadashi was back, no doubt finished at the university for the night. When she caught his eye across the room, he smiled and waved. Chihiro tried not to blush, remembered to smile back and hastily dropped her gaze back to her music.

Tatsu had been sure that his giving her a ride home and bantering and joking with her were all positive signs, but Chihiro wasn't so sure. At least not in the way that Tatsu meant. She was sure that Tadashi was just a nice guy. Getting caught up in what Tatsu was saying would only lead her to start seeing things that weren't really there. She'd be best to forget the whole conversation and just continue acting as normal. Well, normal for her.

She did notice that, although he'd turned up whilst the dance class was still in session, Tadashi somehow managed to avoid getting dragged into participating by Cass. He simply stood at one edge of the room and watched the class in amusement. Chihiro glanced towards where he was standing a few times, but mostly made sure she concentrated on her music and nothing else.

The dance class ran late, past the café's normal closing time. Without the usual wind-down after the Golden Week events, everyone left once the class was finished and Cass promptly brought out a mop and bucket to start going over the floor, which was covered in a mess of footprints from the still wet ground outside. Chihiro began moving chairs back into places where Cass had already cleaned, as all of the furniture had been pushed up against the far wall during the dance class, whilst Tadashi helped with the tables. Just like the first night, Chihiro couldn't help but think.

"I really liked that last waltz you played," Tadashi told her, as they rearranged the furniture. "What was it called?"

Chihiro felt herself blush right down to the roots of her hair. She was starting to get a little more used to people commending her playing, but she still wasn't used to anyone asking more invested questions about it. Particularly as that last piece had been one of her own works. "Um, actually, it's never had a title. I couldn't think of anything suitable at the time, so I just left it untitled."

"Wow. You're telling me you composed that yourself?" Tadashi asked, impressed.

Chihiro kept her gaze on the bit of floor space she was sliding a chair into, her face still hot. "It was actually the first piece I ever composed. Waltzes are the easiest, because they follow such a simple structure."

"Hey, don't sell yourself short. I couldn't even play a note," Tadashi claimed.

"A note's just one key," Chihiro couldn't help but point out. "I'm sure you could press a key."

Tadashi chuckled. "Okay; I could play a note, but I wouldn't be able to tell you what note it is."

Chihiro smiled. Her cheeks still felt very warm, so she hastily tried to move the conversation along, although she was secretly pleased that he'd specifically liked her own composition. "So I notice how you still managed to avoid participating. I thought you were going to stay away just to be on the safe side."

"Well, I figured I'd be okay for tonight. Aunt Cass knows better than to try and encourage me to dance," Tadashi joked. "She already knows I have two left knees."

Chihiro laughed. "I'm not sure that's exactly how the phrase goes."

"I know," Tadashi grinned. "But it made you laugh, didn't it?"

The idea that he could be purposely trying to make her laugh made her heart start beating at a different rhythm. She tried to pass it off casually. "It did. Contrary to popular belief, I'm not actually as miserable as I look."

"Miserable? Now I wouldn't believe that for a second."

Chihiro had to look away again. She was going to end up looking like a tomato by the end of the night. She hastily looked to change the subject. "So has your project been going well? You haven't pulled any more all-nighters this week."

"I haven't needed to. I've finally got most of it worked out," said Tadashi, pleased. "I just have a few more tests to run."

"Really? That's great!" Chihiro enthused.

"And maybe now he can stop harassing the cat," Cass chimed in, as she swept past them with the mop.

Chihiro shot Tadashi a bewildered look at that, who laughed. "I promise it's not as weird as it sounds. In fact..." He slid the last table into place and straightened up. "Come on. I wouldn't want you to think I've been torturing the cat, so I'll show you what I've been working on."

"Err..." Chihiro looked towards Cass, as if asking for permission.

"I'm not paying you to clean and move furniture, Chihiro," she assured. "Go ahead. I can take care of the rest."

"Um, okay. Thanks."

Chihiro nervously followed Tadashi upstairs. She'd already seen the kitchen before on that first day when she'd had to wash up after tuning the piano, but now he was leading her up the next flight of stairs. She didn't even know what she was nervous about. Just more that was out of her comfort zone, she guessed. Even in school, she'd never had friends to have ever gone round to their houses. She'd always just kept to herself. Her whole family was very good at that.

The bedroom on the second floor was wide and spacious. Chihiro was guessing from the two beds that the room must be shared by Tadashi and Hiro. The two sections of the room were separated by a sliding room divider, clearly so that they had the option for more privacy if they needed it. Judging by the mix of tools and toys along the desk, it looked like they both happily shared the work space.

"So, um, where's Hiro?" Chihiro asked awkwardly, looking for something to say.

"No doubt out causing trouble somewhere." Tadashi rolled his eyes. "One of these days, he's gonna end up getting himself arrested."

"Arrested?" Chihiro repeated in alarm. Just how much trouble could a thirteen-year-old get up to?

Tadashi laughed at the look on her face. "It's nothing _that_ bad, I guess. Just gambling. It's a shame he lets all that brainpower go to waste."

"Huh." Gambling still sounded beyond the capability of anyone Hiro's age, but from what Chihiro had heard, she guessed Hiro wasn't exactly your average teenager.

"Anyway, this is my latest project." Tadashi produced what looked like a red pet's collar from a box that sat on top of the desk. It had a slim electronic screen on one side.

"What does it do?" Chihiro asked curiously. It didn't look like a normal collar.

"I have someone who can demonstrate." Tadashi proceeded to coax out a very big cat from half underneath one of the beds, who'd been so still that Chihiro hadn't even noticed him. "This is Mochi."

Chihiro had never been entirely fond of cats. Although this one seemed quite fat and lazy and not at all like the neighbour's cat that had always tried to swipe at her shins whenever she'd walked past the hedge it hid in and had once shredded her school bag when she'd attempted to bat it away. Chihiro watched as Tadashi attached the collar around the cat's neck. As he did, two little icons flashed up on the little electronic screen. One was shaped like a fish and the other looked like a pillow.

"What do those little pictures mean?" she asked, pointing to the display.

"There's a variety that can show up. They tell you what your pet currently wants," Tadashi explained.

"Really? How does that even work?"

"When an animal needs something, the brain releases different signals around the body," Tadashi explained. "The collar picks up those signals, analyses them and identifies what it is the animal wants, conveying it through the icons that show up on the display."

Chihiro eyed the cartoon-like little symbols on the electronic collar. "Like a Tamagotchi." As soon as she said it, she realised she probably shouldn't be comparing his project to a kid's toy. "I mean..."

Tadashi just laughed. "Exactly like a Tamagotchi. I designed the icons to be really basic, so that even a child could understand them, if need be."

"That's really cool." Chihiro couldn't even begin to imagine how something like that worked. Her knowledge of science really was fundamental at best. "I can see why you needed to work through the night - it sounds complicated."

Tadashi chuckled. "Actually, I thought there was something wrong with the circuits for ages, because those same two icons kept coming up all the time, no matter what I did. Eventually, I realised that was actually down to my test subject. Mochi just happens to want food and sleep _all_ of the time." He tickled the fat cat fondly behind the ears. Mochi purred with all the volume of a helicopter coming in to land.

Chihiro couldn't help but smile. Tadashi really was something else. He was funny and he was genuinely a good guy, right to his core. It was no wonder he'd so easily slipped past the usual guards she put up against outsiders. Because she realised now that was exactly what had happened. And she didn't mind in the slightest. She'd had far more to do with Tadashi in the last few days than she had with most people in her life. The strangest thing was that she'd thoroughly enjoyed every exchange they shared and she'd even started looking forward to the next one. Her conversation with Tatsu earlier had proved that.

"I'd like to introduce something similar for babies too," Tadashi continued. "Not as a collar, obviously, but maybe a wristband instead. I'm sure a lot of people wouldn't agree with the idea, as it's not exactly natural, but I think it could really help out new mothers. As well as owners of difficult pets." He playfully chucked Mochi under the chin. "Babies and pets can let us know if there's something wrong, but they can't actually tell us what the problem is, so I'd like to think it could be useful."

"It would be," Chihiro insisted. "It would be really useful. I'm sure there's so many people out there who'd give anything to know what's wrong with their babies - or their pets - when they know they're not happy. It's a brilliant idea. It could help so many people and save them on so much stress..." She trailed off, feeling her face go red again, as she realised she was coming across as overly enthusiastic.

Thankfully, Tadashi just smiled. He had such a nice smile. "Thanks, Chihiro. But it'll all depend on it someone wants the idea taken up at the think tank. This is just a prototype really."

"You mentioned that before," said Chihiro. "What exactly is a think tank?"

"It's sort of like group presentations," Tadashi explained. "All of us at the university have been told to each come up with a unique idea for possible marketing, which will then be presented to some entrepreneurs that are coming in for it. If there's any concepts that they like, they can fund the university to start producing more than just prototypes or they can negotiate to buy the idea so that they can work with it themselves. They generally like quite out of the box ideas, but they also want inventions that are going to be useful to the public."

"Then I'm sure they'll definitely want yours," Chihiro claimed adamantly.

"I'm hoping so," Tadashi smiled. He then laughed. "You have to stop me if any of this gets too boring, by the way, because I do tend to get carried away."

"Oh, no, I don't think it's boring at all," Chihiro assured hastily. "I actually think it's really interesting. Do you know anything about what other concepts are gonna be presented at the think tank?"

"Actually, I know quite a bit about some of them," said Tadashi. "If you're interested in seeing more, then I could take you to the university tomorrow and show you around the labs?"

"Really?" Seeing more inventions like Tadashi's sounded interesting enough, but the idea of spending time together away from the café...

"Sure," Tadashi beamed. "If you swing by the café in the morning, I can give you a ride there and then give you the grand tour. If you are interested, that is."

He seemed like he wanted to be sure that she was up for it. Personally, Chihiro hadn't felt so sure of anything before. The idea of going on Tadashi's scooter again was suddenly a lot more appealing than it had been the first time. But then that had been before she'd spoken to Tatsu. "I'd love to!"


End file.
